Evergreen defense dominates as Plainsmen get first-ever win over Union

Entering Friday, the Evergreen Plainsmen had never beaten Union in 12 tries.

But that’s all history now. The Plainsmen are focused on the future.

The Evergreen defense shut down the Titans and the offense came up with a couple of big plays, leading the Plainsmen to an 18-0 non-league win over Union on Friday at McKenzie Stadium.

“(It means) everything,” Evergreen senior defensive end Makhi Miller said. “We spent the whole summer training for this. Going in front of Union and making a statement for the whole state, letting everyone know that we’re here to play. We love each other. The whole team is about love – love and effort. I would just die for this team.”

Miller was very emotional after the victory and very tired, leading a defense that never really gave Union much of a chance to get started.

The Plainsmen held Union to just 16 net yards rushing, getting contributions from linebacker Mark Williams Jr., lineman Elijah Barker and nose tackle Tru Feldman, among others.

“In practices, it’s nine to 11 men on the ball,” Miller said. “We die for this every day in practice. If we mess up, we go again and go again and go again.”

The Plainsmen did not mess up much on Friday night. They barely allowed Union to drive to the Evergreen side of the field in the first half. When the Titans got the ball on a short punt in the second half at the Evergreen 34, the Plainsmen defense didn’t allow the Titans to go anywhere.

“We worked really hard on creating a defensive culture here,” Evergreen coach Christian Swain said. “Our defensive coordinator Dan Segar does a fantastic job. … It’s six years of trying to build the program, build the culture. And I’m really proud of the finished product tonight.”

With freshman quarterback Jayden Baum getting the start, Evergreen made just enough big plays on offense.

Evergreen had a sustained drive of 69 yards on its first possession that led to a Kevin Jimenez field goal.

The Plainsmen started their third possession of the game pinned inside their own 10 yard line. But Baum hit Terrance Saryon on a 95-yard pass play down to the Union 1, when led to Feldman scoring a touchdown out of the Wildcat formation.

In the third quarter, Union appeared to get a much-needed break when the Titans picked up a fumble and ran it into the end zone. However, the ball carrier was ruled down by contact.

On the next play, James Bethune broke free on a 64-yard touchdown run that put Evergreen up 18-0 and was a gut-punch for the Titans.

“Knowing that we were going to start a freshman quarterback, we knew there was going to be some growing pains, and it was going to take some time,” Swain said. “But we have great athletes, and I felt offensively we did some good things tonight. We were a tick off on execution sometimes. But the defense played lights out. It’s always nice when you can lean back on them.”

EVERGREEN 18, UNION 0

Union 0 0 0 0 — 0

Evergreen 3 9 6 0 — 18

First quarter

E — Kevin Jimenez 30 FG

Second quarter

E — Tru Feldman 1 run (Jimenez kick)

E — Safety, ball snapped out of end zone.

Third quarter

E — James Bethune 44 run (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Union: Hunter Gibson-Kubala 14-10, Blake McDonald 10-(-13), Chase Lofton 2-18, Kaden Bozovich 1-2, Adam Olson 2-17, team 1-(-18). Evergreen: James Bethune 11-106, Terrance Saryon 2-6, Raisen Chambers 4-45, Braiden James 2-6, Tru Feldon 1-1, Damian Perez 1-(-3), Jayden Baum 5-(-6).

PASSING — Union: McDonald 20-29-1-127. Evergreen: Jayden Baum 4-9-1-126, Braiden James 2-3-0-7, Feldman 0-1-0-0, Saryon 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — Union: Adam Olson 2-3, Gibson-Kubala 6-16, Rylan Stevison 4-38, Kellen Brown 1-2, Ali Choumane 1-7, Lofton 2-20, Tobias Chappel 1-7, Bozovich 2-20. Evergreen: Saryon 2-103, Darren Schmitt 2-19, Thaddeus Pruitt 1-8, Ryder Keplar 1-3, Raisean Chambers 1-2.